


Burn Brighter than the Stars

by Peace_and_LongLife32



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, dads of marmora
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2018-12-13 20:31:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11767806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peace_and_LongLife32/pseuds/Peace_and_LongLife32
Summary: Dads of Marmora AU





	1. Always in my Heart (Prologue)

In the middle of a crowded market, a baby began to wail his mother's arms, under her cloak. She bounced him up and down in hopes of calming him, as they could not afford to be found. When he did not quiet, she turned into a darkened alleyway hiding from the swarm of people and began to softly sing a song she had not heard since her own childhood, one that lingered with her even so far from home.

 

Her child’s crying gradually slowed as he stared up at her in bright-eyed delight, his entire attention completely captured by the hushed lullaby.

 

She kissed the top of his head, “I know I know. It's so loud here, isn't it?”

 

He grumbled, frowning at her as if agreeing and she giggled as he sulked. 

 

She brushed her nose against his, “I love you so much. More than all the stars and moons and planets.” 

 

His little pout turned into a bright smile as if he understood and he clapped his little hands together then made a grabbing motion towards his mother.

 

She was about to comply when a hand landed harshly on her shoulder. She twirled, setting her son on her hip, turning that side away from the stranger and sliding a knife out of her belt. 

 

She pointed the knife at the man standing before her, sliding her back foot further, creating a larger distance between him and her child… whom giggled at the action and tried to look around her at the man. 

 

“Peace,” he told her, “I have no desire to fight you.”

 

She growled, looking him up and down, before standing in a normal stance once more.  

 

“What do you want?”

 

“I was sent to guide you from the city.”

 

He handed her a folded paper and she flicked it open, away from her body. She read the message penned in a familiar hand, one of a man closer to her than her own brother.  

 

Gently, she recovered the light of her life with her cloak. 

 

She looked up at his messenger then nodded at him, “Lead the way.”

 


	2. Born to Fly

“Keith is at the top! Again! What is with that guy?” Lance glared at the paper in front of him which showed the test scores of the latest simulation exam. “It’s like he’s personally trying to spite me!”

 

Lance had dragged Hunk, his best friend and roommate, out of bed and to the simulator to see the scores of the latest tests before everyone else in the morning.

 

Hunk shrugged. “I heard that practically his entire family are pilots.”

 

Lance side eyed his friend, “Where’d you hear that?”

 

“From one of his fan girls.”

 

Lance’s face changed emotions so quickly that Hunk wasn’t able to accurately gage his reaction. Finally he seemed to settle on curiosity. 

 

“What exactly did his ‘fan girl’ say?”

 

“That before he was orphaned and then adopted by the Shiroganes, his parents and aunts and uncles would take him flying.” 

 

Lance felt himself deflate, as an uncle himself, he couldn’t imagine what it would be like or what he would do if his niece and nephews lost their parents  

 

“So what happened?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“You said ‘before he was adopted’. If something happened to his parents why isn’t he still with his family? One of his aunts or uncles? Why was he adopted by the Shiroganes? Are they related?”

 

“I don’t know.” Hunk shrugged, “That’s all the girl ‘overheard’ from Shiro talking to Commander Iverson.” 

 

Lance huffed, “‘Overheard huh?’ I may not like the guy but even I don’t approve of how much these ‘fans’ of his dig into his past. It’s kinda creepy.”

 

Hunk chuckled, “Didn’t you do the same thing with Shiro when you first came here?”

 

“No!” Lance said incredulously. “I am  _ insulted  _ that you would imply such a thing. I merely admired his work, from a completely reasonable and  _ respectable  _ distance.” But he grinned up at his friend as Hunk kindly scoffed with disbelief and he felt the bitterness rising in his chest from the test scores begin to deflate. 

 

The two were about to go back to their dorm when the simulator lit up. Lance grinned and Hunk groaned as Lance started walking backwards to peer into the window. 

 

“Leave it alone, Lance.”

 

“Nope!” Lance said and opened the door to the viewing room with a wink and sauntered in, knowing that Hunk was sure to follow. 

 

Lance stared at the screen, his face a mixture of envy and awe, as Shiro: his hero, Keith: his rival, and Matt: the son of the Senior Science Officer at Galaxy Garrison flew the simulation at it’s hardest level seemingly flawlessly.

 

Keith was piloting, Matt was acting as engineer, and Shiro was at the communication station watching his brother easily weave through the obstacles with pride.

 

Their teamwork was impeccable, their rapport was clear, and their enthusiasm filled the air as the other two cheered Keith on. 

 

Lance felt the unwanted but familiar feeling of jealousy burn in the center of his chest.  

 

At the familiar sound of the spacecraft shutting down, Lance ducked behind a trashcan and dragged Hunk down with him.

 

When the pseudo-shuttle doors opened, the three of them walked out jostling each other and laughing. Matt was slapping at their shoulders in excitement and Shiro was ruffling Keith’s hair, while Keith was fighting them both off and scowling at them.

 

Lance peaked around the can and noticed that Keith’s eyes sparkled in amusement as he pushed Matt’s arm away only to turn on his brother and jumped on Shiro’s back, disarranging his hair in revenge, making it stand up at all ends.

 

Shiro grabbed the railings and swung himself down the stairs while Keith held onto him like a baby monkey. 

 

Matt laughed as Keith squealed in surprise and then punched Shiro’s shoulder. 

 

“You jerk,” he said as he jumped down and quickly stepped out his brother’s reach. 

 

Matt slid down the railings after them and grinned. 

 

“We got a near perfect score!”

 

Keith smiled, a small but genuinely proud smile and Lance tried to pretend his heart didn’t skip a beat. 

 

Hunk snickered next to him so obviously he didn’t hide it very well. Lance glared at Hunk but he only shrugged. 

 

“Next time it will be a perfect score.” Shiro said with confidence and pride.

 

“Or I’ll get it on my own while the two of you are on Kerberos collecting ice.” 

 

Lance had expected him to sound bitter but he just sounded tried, like they had had this conversation before and he was trying to pretend it didn’t bother him.

 

“Hey, you know you’d be my first choice if I could choose a fourth person to come with us.” 

 

Shiro swung an arm around his little brother and drew him close. 

 

Keith just sighed and when Lance risked another look, his head was hidden but his voice was clear 

 

“I just need to...”

 

But Lance and Hunk wouldn’t know what Keith was about to say for a very long time because a woman entered the viewing station from the other side, interrupting him mid-sentence.  

 

“All right you overachievers, time for bed.”

 

The woman was a little older than Shiro and Matt and was shorter than Keith. She had a bright smile and a twinkle in her eye as Matt threw something at her. 

 

She caught it, threw it back up into the air, and then caught it again before twirling it through her fingers like a baton. 

 

“Payment for so graciously allowing us to borrow our friend here. It was very kind of you.”

 

She laughed and Lance peeked over to see her opening a candy bar.

 

“Yeah, yeah” She waved her hand at them in a shooing motion. “I get it, you guys needed to have your moment. Now go to bed before you get caught.”

 

The three of them saluted her and started walking around the simulator to exit from the door the other officer had entered from. 

 

She didn’t follow them but instead walked over to the trashcans and peered over.

 

“They were pretty amazing, weren't they cadets?”

 

Hunk meeped and Lance facepalmed.

 

The two slowly stood up, faces down, and shoulders slumped, ready to get in trouble. 

 

The office snickered.  

 

“Go to bed you two, and no gossiping about tonight or I’ll have to mark you for being out of your dorms after lights out.”

 

The two of them stared at her in wonder and then thanked her repeatedly for her kindness before running off to their room. 

 

They were about to round the corner leading to the hall where their room was when they heard voices. 

 

The voices belonged to Keith and Shiro who was apparently making sure he didn't get into any trouble on his way back to his room. 

 

“I’ll be back before you know it.”

 

Keith scoffed. 

 

Shiro sighed, “Okay maybe not before you know it. But I promise I’ll be back.” 

 

He paused for a moment before whispering, “And of course, I’ll tell you about any aliens I meet.”

 

Keith’s laugh sounded like he was holding back tears.  

 

“Especially if they’re purple.”

 

“Especially if they’re purple,” Shiro agreed. “And I always have the crest on me.”

 

“I still can’t believe you got it tattooed!” Keith exclaimed, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice and Shiro shhhed him. 

 

“I know you wanted it yourself but we both know Mom was going to freak out if I brought her 13 year old home with a new tattoo.”

 

Keith snorted, “She wasn’t very happy about her 19 year old son coming home with one ethier.”

 

“No,” Shiro agreed, “She was not.”

 

There was silence before Keith  _ oomphed  _ as Shiro dragged him into a hug.

 

“Remember, this isn’t goodbye. Just see ya later. And next time you’re gonna join me among the stars.”

 

“And fly so high that my dads will see me.”

 

“Yeah and they’re gonna be so proud of you kiddo. They’ll say, ‘look at my son go, he was born to fly’.”

 

Keith drew a shuddering breath and when Lance glanced around the corner he saw Keith’s shoulders shake as Shiro rested his head against his brother’s. 

 

Shiro took a step back and ruffled Keith’s hair, “Get some rest before launch time, okay?”

 

Lance and Hunk waited for Keith to go into his room and Keith waited until his brother had left the hallway before whispering, “ _ It’s just see ya later _ ” then entering his room and softly closing the door behind him. 

They waited for a minute before rushing into their room down the hall, on the opposite side.  

 

Hunk looked at Lance with wide eyes, “That was close.”


End file.
